VietNamNet Bridge – This year’s year-end bonuses at enterprises nationwide are expected to be higher than last year. The average bonus is expected to be higher than the usual one month’s salary, a representative from the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions under the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour told Thoi bao Kinh doanh.

Time for a break: Textile workers at Protrade Garment JSC, located in Thuan An Town in the southern province of Binh Duong. — VNA/VNS Photo Hai Au

Deputy Labour Minister Doan Mau Diep said that except for areas affected by natural disasters, this year’s bonus would not be lower than last year, since 2017 was a prosperous year for businesses.

However, there are exceptions. Unable to afford transport fees to go home for Tet (Lunar New Year), Tran Dinh Nhat and his wife Nguyen Thi Lien, workers at a private textile company based in Binh Duong Province, have decided to stay in the province for the holiday.

“We were able to save only a few million dong each month, so we have decided not to go home to save costs,” Lien told Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi) newspaper.

To help out, their company has offered to help them with some financial support. In addition, for his outstanding performance in the past year, Nhat received a 32-inch TV from the company.

Several enterprises in Vietnam have offered promising year-end bonuses and benefit packages to retain employees after the Tet holiday.

The Huong Long Ltd Company in Bac Thang Long Industrial Park, offers junior employees (those with one to three years’ experience) bonuses based on their salary coefficients, 1.2 times higher for middle-level employees (with three to five years’ experience) and twice as much for seniors (from five years’ experience), said Nguyen Van Canh, chairman of the company’s labour union.

The company will also provide cars to take employees back home for Tet and pick them up after the holidays, he said.

Labour unions in different provinces and cities are also determined to ensure a good Tet for workers. Kieu Ngoc Vu, vice chairman of the HCM City Labour Federation, said that it would organise new-year gatherings for low-income workers who remained in the city for the holiday.

“We will provide 37,000 train and bus tickets for those who wish to go home, and give VND500,000 (US$22) to each worker who has lost their job in the past year,” he said.

The labour union in the southern province of Dong Nai said it expected to hand out 2,000 subsidised packages (VND500,000 each) and 500 bus tickets. The Binh Duong labour union said it would give free tickets to 3,800 workers, as well as tracking down enterprises having debts or going bankrupt to ensure their employees got paid before the holiday.

Year-end bonuses and benefits are the make-or-break factors that determine employees’ loyalty, a recently published survey has shown.

In one of its questions, the survey proposed a hypothetical scenario of “receiving no bonus this year” and asked for reactions from the employees. About 25 per cent said they would leave their jobs and seek other companies with better benefits, 40 other said they would raise concerns and request bonuses.

About 13.7 per cent said they would be disappointed, but would not react due to the difficulties of finding new jobs. Only 6.9 per cent responded that they did not care about year-end bonuses because their incomes were enough for the holiday.

Employers, when asked if they would offer employees bonuses if their companies had an unprofitable year, 80 per cent said they would.

This shows that employers are aware of how labour shortages after Tet could affect production, a Navigos Group representative told Thoi bao Kinh doanh (Business Times) newspaper.